>> thom: off the right side. karim is stopped close to the 15 yard line. a gain of close to four. second down and six upcoming. first drive of the second half. rob ryan. dallas defense ravaged by injurieses last year. >> brian: keep in mind sean payton had come from the cowboys under parcels. had a close relationship with jerry jones. they chose to let go of rob ryan. you know that conversation had to be had between jones and ryan.

he's an excellent football coach. he's been a coordinator nine years. he's been through seven head coaches. this is the most stable situation he's been in from oakland to cleveland. even in dallas. we know what comes with the dallas cowboys. with payton this is the most stable situation rob ryan has been in. >> thom: yates. had a wide open receiver. new york jets under enormous criticism today after what transpired last night bringing mark sanchez into the game in the fourth quarter. sanchez took a vicious hit for marvin austin. they hope he'll be all right after a disapointing start by geno smith. johnson levelled.

that's kenny mccarl coming up to put the hat on him. third down and goal. today is a tough day for rex ryan. >> brian: it's an emotional game. geno smith didn't look good. come back to mark sanchez who is now hurt. in hindsight obviously. to meet the guy that decided that ten minutes after a three-hour gut wrempbl ing -- wrenching emotional experience you have to stand in front of the media and explain yourself. i want to meet the guy that came up with the idea. we're going around a little bit. you have to calm yourself. recognize that you can't let it get the

better of you. rex may have been caught up in it last night. >> thom: last year the saints defense was an unmitigated disaster. they were the first time, speaking of the new york jets. the saints the first team since the 1975 jets to finish last in total defense and rushing defense and bottom two in scoring defense. >> brian: you're got going to win a lot of games with that. steve spagnuolo steps in with the loss of oh payton. >> thom: denied the end zone is martin on a third down and goal. >> brian: that was the strong move by sean payton in the off season. remember, he hired steve spagnuolo in a competitive situation. there were a number of teams vying for the ability to come in as

a defensive coordinator. very successful in new york. they put together good defenses in st. louis. he came from the head coach. but that had to be tough. he hired the guy. not there for the entire year. now has to fire him and find a new defensive coordinator. >> thom: they're going for it on fourth down and goal out of the i-for mace. formation. denied the end zone is karim. ramon humber the first one there to pete him. inside the 5 on four downs, the texans unable to cross the goal line. [ male announcer ] you like to try new things. now we have bold new tastes like never before. you like things made by hand. we're now grilling up freshly made egg-whites. you like to cool down. we just added a refreshing new smoothie. you get wrapped up in things. we're introducing new delicious ways for you to eat.

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>> thom: 24-16 after the goal line stand delivered by the saint defense. we go 11. play 74 yards. over six minutes and come up emp the ti. the hand-off. maybe a gain of a yard. kenny vaccaro bringing

the heat on the last defensive series but humber the first to meet karim short of the goal line. >> brian: then the swarming of the bodies. one thing you will get from a rob or rex ryan-coached defense is ta. you can see kenny paying the price. that's what happens when you stick your nose in it literally on the goal line. >> thom: the new quarterback takes over for the saints. penalty flag down. on his feet. robinson had an outstanding training camp. their leading rusher in the preseason. >> referee: holding, number 70, offense. half the distance to the goal. second down. >> thom: marcel jones , backup right tackle, whistled for holding to bring it back. >> brian: many times you see a play bounce outside like that. that will bring about the holding penalty . he got hold of it.

or you are blocking the defensive end. the ball jumps outside. you don't know it. starts to pull away and you grab him. >> thom: ryan griffin who played his college football in new orleans at tulane university. catch is made by the fullback austin johnson. he's up across the 5. up to the seven yard line. that's a gain of six. >> brian: the saints are so well established. here's a penalty. >> referee: half the incidence dis texans to the goal. >> brian: almost unvoidable. when you are rolling

the cowboys and indians through here, the rest of y'all we used to call them. >> thom: what? >> brian: you know, when you practice you say, hey, put the rest of y'all in there. that's who they are. i'm a backup fullback now. it can be tough. >> thom: they pitch it to cadet. he's short of the first down. laura? >> thanks. i'm here with matt schaub. that's pretty much it until the regular season opener that we see you and the starting offense. what do you think? >> we had a great camp. preseason went well. we had a nice progression from game one to game three. we kpe cuted well, finished with a nice two-minute drive for a field goal before the half. guys were sharp in what they were doing. >> so many people talk b about the expectations of the game. at first can they get to the playoffs. then can they take the

next step. are you feeling the pressure? >> i put a lot of pressure on myself. as much as anybody out there could put on me. i have high expectations. we'll take it a game at a time. go out and play. >> i heard you say one game at a time. i will take you right to the super bowl. i did hear what you said. but when it comes to the next step that seems to be the three words swirling around on the outside. how much do you feel it on the inside? >> that's the next step in our progression as an organization is to take the next step, win a championship. that's where the focus is. at this point in the year, we have to focus on week one. it's a long season. that's our goal. anything short of that is failure. >> good to see you. thank you so much. have a great season. thom? >> thom: thank you. matt schaub, thank you. pierre wood check s in for the first time.

another of the many running backs in for the texans out of notre dame. 7th leading rusher in the history of fighting irish football. 15 carries in the preseason. 80 yards. >> pump fake. rushed out of the pocket. a catch is made by alex lemon. another college creation. out of syracuse university. that will move the chains to the saints 40 yard line. >> brian: i called this the scouts' half. you're full of players of undrafted free agents, later round drafts. coach, if we can get this guy signed. for them to make the

team the scouts love this part of the season. this part of preseason. it's a chance for their guy to make the team. >> thom: yates. hand it is football to johnson. it was interesting asking sean payton, they are two days from the next cut. then you make the final cut leading up to the open ing of the regular season. were you at all surprised by what he told us h he did recently with his staff and general manager? >> no. i like the idea. they put them in three columns. yes, absolutely going to make it. only 30, 35 guys. then there are a handful that, no, these guys won't make it. then you have about 10 to 15 guys in the middle column. some of them are there because of injury. as we say with colston, he'll be there. no question. you don't have to look

at 90 guys and say who will make it, who's not. i have broken it down to the middle column of guys that now in a half like this if i'm sean payton, i guarantee he knows the names on the middle column and that's what he's looking at now. >> thom: the rookie out of georgia tech. number 38, rod sweeting. they have been impressed with the way he's played. rookie tight end out of yukon. boy, they really liked him. big man. they were surprised how athletic he is. >> brian: as they said, they are a 12 personnel or two tight end personnel group. they lost james casey to free agency.

that was a good one-two pumpbl with daniels and casey. as we said earlier with griffith and greening they felt good about the tight end position. obviously to go with daniels. >> thom: first down at the 15. 2:07 to play in the third. hitting going on here in houston. guys trying to win a job. when you realize you need to switch to verizon, it's a reality check. i had my reality check when i'd be sitting there with my friends who had their verizon phones and i'd be sitting there like "mine's still loading!" i couldn't get email. i couldn't stream movies. i couldn't upload any of our music. that's when i decided to switch. now that i'm on verizon, everything moves fast. with verizon, i have that reliability. i'm completely happy with verizon. verizon's 4g lte is the most reliable and in more places than any other 4g network. period. that's powerful. verizon. get the nokia lumia 928 for free.

today's game sponsored by verizon. never be without nfl football with verizon. >> thom: there you get a look at the waterfall in houston. 64 feet tall. yates to the end zone. and a drop. by alek lemon. this is the same route we saw stills go for the touchdown. that doesn't help your cause droppinging a wide open touchdown like that.

>> thom: today before we get out of here, rick smith the general manager of the houston texans will join us to talk about his team in the upcoming year. down is the call on the field. >> referee: the ruling on the field is a catch and the runner was down by contract. >> thom: down by contract. -- contact. >> brian: sure uh looks like -- no, he's down. obviously landed on his bum the minute h he got down there the play is dead. clearly has possession right there. the ball bounces out after he comes down. >> thom: that's jim leonard on the tackle. a guy that's been around and made the most. his ninth season in the nfl. most of those with the

jets. crossing pattern. wide open hanging onto it this time is lemon. good for that young man. he dropped one a moment ago. got another chance. that's a touchdown. >> brian: that's important. the fact that you can see a kid that drops the ball and comes back to make the play. that's pretty good. rob ryan shaking his head. it's tough with this group in the second half. those type of plays, the sneak route underneath by a wide receiver that tends to escape a defense that's just trying to line up, see if they are where they are supposed to be. trying to be physical enough to make the team. >> thom: the point after is good. a one-point good. saints 24, texans 23. a touchdown catch by alex le mon. you ready to play madden 25? no, i promised my son i would school him first. but he's asleep, i think the poor kid's a little scared.

woah. what's up? i was just bragging about you, how good you are at madden. that's not true. that's not what you were just saying. yeah, you ready to lose? ha, you're always ready to lose. who was that? it's your aunt, the ugly one. rated e for everyone. be game ready. get madden nfl 25 and any of these products to get a $10 egift card. only at walmart. if you like options, we've got lots of them. burger bites, boneless wings, potato skins, and more. choose any three for just $9.99 for a limited time. chili's triple dipper. more life happens here. make sure you're ready and download nfl mobile from verizon. watch nfl redzone and get every nfl touchdown on sunday afternoons. never being without football. that's powerful. verizon.

andy tanner on the other side with a touchdown ctch. now on the kickoff cover team, same story for alek lemon. >> brian: wearing a number in the teen s. having to cover a kick

is the deaf in addition. >> thom: green wear as number. >> brian: now efb has it. still a good story. >> thom: what number are you wearing this year? >> brian: 1. ♪ ♪

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football today. >> brian: elvis impersonation. >> thom: there's a good look. >> thom: i think that's evel knievel more than elvis. >> brian: we're splitting hairs. >> thom: we're not far from elvis country. >> brian: that's right. everywhere is elvis country. >> thom: you're right about that. 1:12 to play in the third quarter. saints with the football. kyrie robinson wrapped up after a gain of three on first down. never be without football. get coverage of oh every nfl game on nfl mobile. call star, star nfl to download it now. we'll taub about the guys on offense trying to win a job.

there are many out there now on defense trying to do the same thing. parker on the end around. parker is an interesting guy. that was a guy who was in the news. some of you may remember. the bengals initially brought him in. then rahim morris at the time and the tampa bay buccaneers sort of manoeuvred away to snatch him away from the bengals who were very upset about it. he came in and played well for the buccaneers. said i didn't have the passion for football that i uh should have had. they turned him loose. now he says he loves the game more than any time in his career and trying to win a spot on the saints roster. that will be the final play of the third quarter. a one-point spread as we are off to the fourth. the fox nfl preseason special continues after the break from your local fox station.

>> thom: well, we were surprised when after the clock had run down to zero a time-out was called. listen to this.

sean payton at the top of the screen talking to the side judge over there. >> brian: the side judge didn't make it i up. you know, sean payton talked about he's got to get back in the groove having been out of it for a year. i don't know why you would call time-out in that situation. you call it they're going to put it in. >> thom: so that will be officially the end of the third quarter. 24-23 saints. we'll keep it right here and give you a chance to hear laura okmin visit with a special defender from east texas. >> j.j. watt, 20 and a half sacks. i'm curious what you think is more impressive from your defensive player of the year.

>> the quarterbacks are so mobile i would say the sacks. i think the run plays are harder than anything. those are what i'm proud of. >> people say you are redefining the position. we are see ing things a defensive lineman shouldn't be able to do. what are you doing? >> just playing hard. you have seen it before. people told me when i first got here the end zone makes plays. you create new standards and set new heights there is no limit to what you can do. i'm always setting new goals. >> i know you will hate that i do this. one thing that's harder to do than lining up against j.j. watt is getting you to talk about the wonderful things you do. you do a lot. that included a deadly fire in texas a few monthsing ago. four firefighters were killed. about 14 more injured. i know you did amazing things for survivors and families. can you tell me about it? >> you know, my dad is a firefighter. my uncle is a

firefighter. it was close to my heart when it happened. we lost four great -- three great men and one great woman. i went to the hospital. captain dowling is in critical condition still. his wife said there were three units that helped save her husband's life. we had a nice steak dinner. a chance for them for me on behalf of the city of houston to say thank you for their services. like i said before, i play a game. i come out and tons of people watch me play. those men and women put their lives on the line every day. they don't get credit they deserve. i try to use my platform to give them credit they deserve. >> you are a fantastic player and better person. thank you. >> thank you very much. go texans. >> thom: i know we all say thank you for what you did for the familied